The Chronicles of the Wanderers
by Solareon
Summary: They had fought their wars, helped countless people across the wasteland, but now it was time to for them to do something for themselves. War never changes, but the lives of heroes do. It's time to go home, and maybe find a life outside war. A Fallout story dedicated to the aftermath of F3, New Vegas, and Beyond.


**Author's Notes:** _I've been meaning to get into writing a Fallout story and well here is my first one. I have some other chapters planned, but I wanna see if it gets any steam in the first place. This takes place after F3 and after New Vegas. I'm hoping to take this to after F4. I hope you guys enjoy it!_

* * *

One of the biggest, and most forgotten rules of the wasteland was to enjoy the simple things. Many people overlooked that rule as they fought their ways through the wasteland, worried more about survival and trying to make it another day, than actually taking the time to live.

Elisabeth, or as her companions called her, Elsa, sat outside of the think tank, watching as the sun disappeared from the Big Empty. It was a peaceful view that she rarely was able to get back in New Vegas.

Usually she would travel alone to gather her private thoughts, but recently she had started taking her old pal Rex with her on her trips to the Big Empty. She liked the company and he liked being able to run around like a wild puppy without having to attack anything. She had cleared out most of all of the troubling things that could cause any one harm.

She doubted many people even knew about it besides a selected few anyway.

Rex was resting his head on her lap, snoring lightly as she rubbed his belly.

Suddenly the dog perked its head up.

"What's wrong, boy?" She asked, curious as to why the sleeping dog had woken up. He wasn't growling or barking, so why was he-

Another dog had popped out of the blue and Rex had jumped off Elsa and chased after the dog. The new dog barked at Rex, and then took off, which Rex happily followed.

Sighing, Elsa jumped up to chase after the dogs. While they didn't look they were about to fight, she still had to go get Rex. She was tired and was craving some food.

She spun around to make chase, but was stopped dead in her tracks when she came face to face with a young man.

Jumping back slightly from the man's sudden appearance, Elsa tried to compose herself.

She hadn't even hear him approach, and with her cybernetic advancements to her body, hearing including, that was an amazing feat.

"Don't worry, Dogmeat's good with other dogs. Worst comes to worst he might end up going to the bathroom on a supermutant." He said in a friendly tone. "Or a tunnel snake if they're out there." He chuckled to himself at his inside joke.

The young man smiled gently at her, he gave off a certain peaceful aura. Without saying a word, the man walked passed her and sat down next to her original spot.

After a beat of silence, and realizing that this man wasn't planning to attack…yet, Elsa sat down in her original spot, or at least close to it.

"Ya know, I didn't think I was going to run into anyone out here." The stranger said.

Elsa stared at him, taking in his sharp blue eyes, unsettled chestnut brown hair, and tanned skin. He was defiantly wastelander, but he looked different. More Capable than the average person.

"I wasn't planning on having any company." Elsa said with a shrug of her shoulders.

The young man chuckles lightly. "Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans."

The Courier raised an eyebrow. "Huh, I haven't met many people who believed in God these days." Well besides Joshua Gram…

"I don't." The stranger replied simply. "But my father did." His face became nostalgic for a moment, remembering memories of a time that had long since left him. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of water of life, freely. "

Elsa started at the young man, trying to understand what he had meant by the quote.

The stranger had picked up on her confusion and chuckles softly. "Long story." He merely said.

Nodding her head, Elsa took the man in. There was something familiar, yet unknown about him. His presence was something she had never seen in all her travels. He was just so calm, and that made her feel-

"You feel uneasy." The man replied exactly what she was thinking.

"A little bit." She said. "I've been in the Mojave for a long time now, and I wasn't aware that anyone knew about the think tank, except for me."

He smiled charmingly at her, something so genuine it made her brain hurt. She had long since accepted that trusting people in the wasteland was a bad idea.

"Maybe that's because I'm not from here." He stated. "I'm from the east. Capital Wasteland to be specific."

Now she had even more questions. "How…why are you here?"

The stranger shrugged. "I ran out of adventures to have there. I did as much as I could think of out there, but eventually I got a wanderer lust."

The stranger started chuckling, apparently finding something funny about what he had said.

I'm sorry." He apologized. "Back home I had gotten the nick the lone wanderer and I couldn't pass up the chance at a bad pun."

Lone Wanderer? Elisa thought for a good moment till a giant light bulb went off inside her head.

"You're the Lone Wanderer!?" She asked/yelled.

She had heard whispers and stories about the Lone Wanderer from around the Mojave, hell she had even found a book that had been co-written by him: The Wasteland Survival Guide. The damn book had saved her skin many of times throughout her travels.

"Yup, that's me." He humbly says as he runs a hand through his messy hair. "And you're Courier 6."

Elsa's heart skipped a beat and the world seemed to slow down for a moment.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble." He laughed with a wave of his hand. "We have a mutual friend. Veronica I think her name was."

Elsa calmed down and sat back down next to him. She had heard how the Lone Wanderer had aided the Brotherhood of Steel in the East. She wasn't sure how much of it was true mind you. Some stories said he had waged a one man assault on an enemy base the shot a sky weapon at them. Other stories claimed he had teamed up with a giant robot that threw small mini nukes like footballs.

"So she told you how to find me?" She asked.

"Well in a way." The Wanderer said. "She wasn't exactly sure where you went, so instead she told me a couple places you might be."

Elsa chuckled lightly. Her power punching friend didn't have the best memory at times.

"So you just got lucky and wound up here?"

"No this was the last place I checked." He causally said. "I thought I had met some color people over the years, but you have your fair share of interesting acquaintances.

"I'm guessing you've talked to most of them." She simply stated.

He nodded. "General Oliver, Ulysses, Benny, hell I even had a somewhat pleasant conversation with Lanius." The Wanderer grinned. "He's actually pretty nice once you get passed the ominous death threats."

The young woman stared at the Lone Wanderer wide eyed and in shock. How long had this man been looking for her? For what reason did he have to track down all these people?

All these questions and more were swimming around her head, but she was only able to whisper out one word. "Why?"

For the first time since she had started talking to him, the Wanderer's smile had disappeared, and she saw something in his face that she had seen in her own many times over again.

"I was curious." He softly said. "I had originally come here to help out the east coast chapter of the Brotherhood reconnect with the west, but from the moment I arrived here all I heard was about the courier. It didn't matter if it was on my pip boy or by word of mouth."

Elsa went closer to the man, heavily interested in his story.

"Eventually I asked around and your friend Veronica told me a good deal about you: How selfless you could be, how much good you did for the NCR, the Brotherhood, and even more factions around this wasteland. You spared your enemies, let them surrender and retreat if you could. You didn't even kill the man who shot you in the head."

The Wanderer looked puzzled and lost, as if he just couldn't understand his own words. "I couldn't understand. How someone could walk a road so much like my own, but be so different." He then smiled brightly. "But I wanted to meet you. I wanted to talk to someone who was like me."

The two adventures looked at each other, Elsa couldn't help but feel flustered at the Wanderer's intense gaze. He was looking right into her eyes without even blinking, it eventually became too much and the woman turned her head.

Elsa sat in silence. She pulled her legs up to her chest, hugging them close. "I can't remember anything about my past." She said.

"I've tried countless times to remember, but nothing works." Elsa sighed deeply. "I was hoping that maybe if did enough good deeds that maybe my reward would be my memories, but even after going to the divide, I still don't know anything about myself."

A beat passed in silence. Neither said a word.

"I wasn't 100% truthful." The Wanderer said gently.

Elsa looked at him confused. "About what?"

"I had other reasons for coming here to see you than just small talk." He said.

Of course he had to of wanted something. Everyone in the wasteland wanted something from someone.

The Wanderer took out a picture from his old, torn duster and stared at it. "I found this picture in vault 21." He handed the picture to her.

Taking the picture from him, Elsa looked at the picture carefully. It was of a young couple, smiling. Inspecting it further, she began to notice that the man in the picture looked a lot like the Wanderer.

"Their my parents." The Wander said confirming her theory.

A bitter resentment went through her as she looked at the picture. So what he wanted her to help find his family?

"They're dead." The Wanderer guessed what conclusion Elsa was making and he wanted to make sure she knew that wasn't the case.

Elsa's resentment was soon replaced with guilt. "I'm sorry." She says as she hands him back the picture.

The Wanderer nods his head and accepts the picture back. "It's okay. I've long since made peace with their passing."

"So…so why are you here?" Elsa just couldn't understand this guy.

"I have a past, a childhood, and I had a family. I have memories." The Wanderer put a hand on her shoulder, but she didn't flinch, she was lost in his words. "I want to help you remember."

The Courier didn't know what to say, she just looked at him unsure, voice think in her throat and eyes misty. "Why?" She asked, voice cracking. "You don't even know me."

"Did you know any one of the people you helped when you first met them?" He asked. "No, you didn't. You just helped them."

"But, but I…." She couldn't believe that she was stuttering now. Her! Courier 6! The woman who had killed Caser, who stared down Lanius and connived him to retreat! But here she was at a loss for words, because of some drifter in an old duster was offering his help to her.

Taking a deep breath, Elsa calmed her. She was getting ahead of herself. While the Lone Wanderer's stories seemed impressive, and his talents seemed great, at the end of the day he was just a wastelanders like her. If she couldn't find any information on herself, she doubted he could.

"Listen, um thank you." She said slowly standing up. She was getting tired, and wanted to sleep. "I've given up, stranger. If I can't find anything then-"

The Wanderer pulled out another picture from his pocket and offered it to her.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Take it." The Wanderer said gesturing to the picture.

The Courier gently took the picture out of his hand and brought it closer. She inspected the image in detail. It was just of a middle aged man and a teenage girl, nothing special. The man had a muscular stature and a cocky on his face, greying brown hair. The girl had the same cocky grin as the man, she had black ebony hair, bright green eyes…she looked like….

"Oh, God." Elsa whispered as she brought her hands to her mouth, tears quickly spilling out.

The picture was of her! The teenage girl in the picture was her! That must have been her father.

"Where?!" Elsa was having trouble forming complete sentences, her vision was becoming blurry from her tears. "Where did you find this?"

"Goodsprings." The Wanderer answered. "A local doctor had shown me where you were buried. I figured if there was anything there it deserved a second look.

Elsa was shocked. She had never assumed scavenging her own grave. She had been too hell bent on finding answers originally to even go back there.

She looked at the Wanderer, so many different emotions going through her body all at once. Without knowing what to do, the Courier leaped forward at the Wanderer.

For the first time in years, the Wanderer was caught off guard.

Elsa slammed herself against him, holding him as humanly close as possible, then without thinking clearly, she slowly inched her lips closer to his and gently kissed him on the lips.

It only took her a moment though to regain herself and Elsa quickly pulled away, red faced from her tears and embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry!" The woman's voice cracked. "It's just I've been looking, and, and.." Elsa didn't know what to say so she just started laughing as she was crying.

The Wanderer was a little lost it thought, touching his lips gently. That had been the first time he had been kissed in years, so he had been a little taken back.

Elsa spoke up, breaking him out of his trance like state. "Thank you. Thank you so fucking much." She said happily staring at the picture.

"Well, I'm not done yet." The Wanderer replied with a shit eating grin on his face.

"Huh?" Elsa wasn't sure if she could take anymore reveals today.

"I showed that picture while I was asking about you, and while many couldn't make heads or tails of it, a certain super mutant in Jacobstown was able to inform me about the man in the picture."

The Courier was hooked on every word he said. "Who is he? Where is he?"

The Wanderer grinned wildly. It had been a long time since he had made anyone this happy.

* * *

It had taken some time, and the Wanderer had to call in a couple favors with the East Coast Brotherhood of steel, but they had finally arrived Oregon. They were maybe about five minutes from a small town called Arroyo, which was exactly where Elsa was heading.

The young woman took a deep breath, tightening the grip on the small duffel back she had on her shoulders. This was it. She was finally going to get the answers she was looking.

Walking closer to her, the Wanderer nodded her way, a small smile on his face.

"I should be going." The Wanderer said, looking off into the distance.

"You're not coming with me?" Elsa was a little taken back, he had brought her all this way. How could he just leave.

The man smiled brightly at her, and Elsa had to hold down the butterfly feeling she got whenever he did that. "I'll be back. There's just something else I have to take care of while I'm here."

Elsa was curious to what it was he needed to do, but let him have his reasoning. He would tell her if he wanted to.

Stepping closer, she hugged him tightly again. She felt him tense up for a moment, then slowly relax into her embrace. It made her laugh inside. The big bad Wanderer was thrown off guard by a little physical contact.

Finally after a moment of hugging, Elsa let go of the man, smiling bright.

They wordlessly went opposite ways, their dog companions each going with their respected owners, but before he could get too far, Elsa called out to him.

"I never asked your name, Wanderer!"

The lone Wanderer stopped in his tracks, he looked over his shoulder, sporting a huge grin.

"My names Thomas."

Elsa beamed, overjoyed to of finally learned his name. "I'll see you soon, Thomas."

Thomas chuckled to himself as he turned away, walking off into the distance, his faithful friend Dogmeat by his side.

His mind traveled to Elsa and for the first time since he activated Project Purity all those years ago, he felt like he had actually done something worth remembering.

"You can go home now, Courier 6." He whispered to himself.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** _Well That's all for now folks! I hope you liked it. I have always wanted a fic where theses two meet. I've also wanted a story where the Courier tried to find her/her past out. Review, follow, and give feedback if you would like me to keep going with this! I would love to hear what you all thought!_


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